June 7, 2005
09:00 AM (EDT)

News Release Number: STScI-2005-15

Supernova Remnant Menagerie

June 7, 2005: A violent and chaotic-looking mass of gas and dust is seen in this
Hubble Space Telescope image of a nearby supernova remnant. Denoted
N 63A, the object is the remains of a massive star that exploded,
spewing its gaseous layers out into an already turbulent region.

Q & A: Understanding the Discovery

1.
Where is this object located?

Visible from the southern hemisphere, the LMC is an irregular galaxy lying
160,000 light-years from our own Milky Way galaxy in the direction of the
constellation Dorado. The supernova remnant, N63A, is enclosed within the
star-forming region, N 63, which itself is located in the large super bubble,
LMC-4.

2.
What do we know about the star that exploded to create the N 63A

It is estimated that the progenitor of the supernova that
produced the remnant seen here was about 50 times more massive than our
own Sun. Such a massive star has strong stellar winds that can clear
away its ambient medium, forming a wind-blown bubble. The supernova that
formed N 63A is thought to have exploded inside the central cavity of
such a wind-blown bubble, which was itself embedded in a clumpy portion
of the LMC's interstellar medium.

3.
What are astronomers learning by studying this object?

The LMC provides excellent examples of active star formation and supernova
remnants. Images in the infrared, X-ray, and radio emission of N 63A show
a much more expanded bubble that totally encompasses the optical emission
seen by Hubble. As the HST images have illustrated, N 63A is still young
and its ruthless shocks are destroying ambient gas clouds, rather than
coercing them to collapse and form stars. In a few million years, the
supernova ejecta from N 63A will reach nearby star-formation sites and
may be incorporated into the formation of planets around solar-type stars
there.